A year of Tangle
by Prunormis
Summary: Harry Potter Au Mathias Køhler is one of the happiest guys in whole Hogwarts. Popular, Quidditch Captain and seemingly always in a good mood. The new student Sigurd seems quite the opposite. It takes not long until Mathias notices that something is off with this cold and reserved guy and he is determined to find out what it is. Not that he wants to be at his side anyway.
1. A new student

Harry Potter AU  
Comments and constructive criticism is always welcomed!  
I hope you enjoy the story which will be continued in at least three more chapters.

Human names used  
Mathias Køhler - Denmark  
Alfred - USA  
Kyle - Australia  
Sigurd "Lukas" Steilsson - Norway  
Elizaveta "Liz" Hedevary - Hungary  
Peter Kirkland - Sealand

* * *

Mathias Køhler is quite happy in his life. He is a student at Hogwarts, got sorted into the house of his dreams (Gryffindor) and is captain of the Quidditch team. Everything is perfect with exception perhaps of stupid homework and studying, but since he is a muggle born everything is still somehow in his interest and he finds always a way to be excited for a subject. Even though most of his friends are spread across the Hogwarts houses, he is never lonely in the Gryffindor tower as his charismatic and friendly aura is just too inviting for others to not look for a free seat at his side. Yes, Mathias was the good looking, charismatic guy everybody wants to be friends with.

"Look, here he comes…" whispers his teammate Alfred whilst pointing with his index finger towards a boy, or rather young man, entering the Great Hall. "He will be the new seeker for Slytherin."

Mathias looks up and had not a hard time figuring out who he meant. It was the only Slytherin entering, as it was very early in the morning and most of the students were still asleep. He looked very grumpy and as soon as he sat down, far away from the few others at the table, he instantly reached for the can of coffee. He was perfectly dressed, not a wrinkle to be seen and his tie perfectly tied in . His light blonde hair combed but still falling perfectly in his face, so his right eye was half covered by it. On the other side, the hair was held back by a golden cross pin, shining in the morning sunlight coming from the roof of the hall. His face was clearly from the Nordic type. He was taller than most of the students and even if the robe hid his body very well, Mathias could tell from the perfect posture this guy had and from how he walked, that he was trained. Overall he just excelled from the others in a way.

"Man… He looks grumpy. Sure it's him? I never saw him flying…" He frowns some and thinks about from where he could know this pretty face. "…I actually never saw him before," Mathias states with a lowered voice. Alfred nods and takes a bite from his bagel before answering:  
"Of course not. He just moved from Norway to Scotland. People told me that his dad is very influential and pulled some strings so he could enter here." Alfred finishes his bagel and takes a smeared sandwich from a plate which immediately gets replaced by a new one.  
"Arrived not with the train as we do and I guess his sorting was done in privacy." He rolls his eyes. "If you ask me he is one of those pureblood nobles that are too good for everybody else."  
Mathias just hums in agreement and continues to watch him.  
"Does he have a name?"  
"Sigurd Steilsson."  
"Sigurd?"  
"Yes, but he gets called Lukas by everybody else."  
"Why Lukas?"  
"His second name I guess and since it's easier to pronounce they stick with it. The teachers still call him Sigurd though."  
"How do you know all of that? We began school three days ago!"  
Alfred shrugs. "It's what they tell you in the hallways. Stuff like that spreads like wildfire. Remember how fast the rumour about Liz cheating on Roddy spread." He stands up and wipes some crumbs from his shirt.  
"Gotta go now. Forgot my books upstairs." Mathias nods and looks back at Sigurd, his dark blonde haired friend is quickly forgotten. But Sigurd just finished too and stands up to leave, just before the big wave of students, heading for breakfast, could block the hallways. Mathias follows him closely with is eyes until his team colleague Kyle snaps him out of it in stealing his untouched breakfast under his nose. After that, Mathias did not have much time to think about the new seeker as the teachers begin the new school year without mercy.

That is, until a very rainy and boring Thursday afternoon. The new, unofficial hate afternoon of the Gryffindors: sharing transfiguration class with the Slytherins. Not only, that this class is extraordinarily difficult, now they have to share it with their archenemies and are thus under even more pressure.  
The Gryffindors enter together the classroom somewhat late, as they just had potions far down in the dungeons. The professor is already waiting and the Slytherin students turn their heads and begin to snicker as the Gryffindors, panting out of breath, sit down on their side of the classroom. The class starts and Mathias is quick to set his mind towards the subjects instead of the mocking of the Slytherins. Soon enough they had to be paired up to try out a spell and as he turns his head towards his partner Liz, he spots the golden cross again in the first row.

There he is, Sigurd "Lukas" Steilsson, sitting with his still perfect hair and clothes, letting the snail in front of him vanish with a flick of his wand. Mathias is completely absorbed in the scene in front of him and completely ignores Liz who is waving at him, trying to get his attention. Sigurd's partner, a brown haired guy, which's name he forgot, is leaning towards him. But he did not observe how Sigurd let the snail vanish. He just plainly looked at him and is getting closer and closer. Sigurd, seeming to feel more uncomfortable with every centimetre this guy was getting nearer, slides to the end of the bench and glares at the intrusive male. But before anything could happen, like Mathias jumping up and breaking this guy's nose, the professor claps his hands and begins to explain to them again how the spell works, since many of the students had problems recollecting the stuff they learned from last year.

The following weeks, Mathias gets more and more interested in that mysterious Norwegian guy and one sleepless night before the first Quidditch match of the season, he decides to write everything down he learned about him. He sits up and lights with his wand the candle at his bedside. The other boys are all sleeping deeply in their beds. As Mathias sits on his comfortable bed he takes out parchment, quill and ink from his nightstand. First he writes down the name.

 _Sigurd "Lukas" Steilsson_

Then the outer appearance where he had to hold himself back to not write any too flattering adjectives.

 _Taller than most of the students, smaller than me. Light blonde hair 'til down to his neck. Rather long bangs, always held back on one side by his golden cross pin. Seems to be fit and has good posture.  
Elegant movements and light skin like marble. Dark, deep, beautiful blue eyes. Beautiful and defined face. Never does something clumsy or embarrassing. _

Mathias reads the description and bites his lower lip. There was something missing. Something was not right about the description. He dips the quill in ink again and tries his best to describe it:

 _A dangerous yet beautiful aura. Magnet like, almost inhuman. Wants me to take him and get him to a safe place to protect or slam him hard against the wall and …_

Mathias looks up and around him. Nobody is awake. Nobody is looking over his shoulder. Everybody is sleeping more or less silently. He takes a deep breath and starts a new paragraph. Now the Intel he got from his friends and hallway gossiping.

 _Rich, influential family, Norwegian, arrogant, got a brother named Eiríkur in 4th year. Seeker. Nobody sees him training and nobody knows how good he is. Slyherin are keeping silent about him as a seeker. Not social, seemingly no friends, does not speak so much. Some believe he cannot even speak or understand English. Many have a crush on him._

Mathias pauses and takes deep before continuing to write:

 _Manipulative. Pays teachers for good grades. Does not show any compassion for those he breaks the heart but does instead make them do the most embarrassing things or forgetting themselves. Turns straight boys gay and queer girls straight. Emotionless. Has several lovers. Looks at us as mere toys. Muggle-hater._

Mathias lays the ink on his nightstand and reads again through what he wrote as he lies down and nibbles some on the quill he placed in his mouth. He gets some ink on his lip but he does not notice as he drifts off into his fantasy, clutching the parchment in his hands.

 _The crowd is cheering for him at the Quidditch Cup. His hands are holding the trophy and all his teammates are lifting him up and singing, shouting and laughing. As he gets down again, the trophy disappears and instead he is running towards Sigurd who is waiting for him in the golden and crimson crowd, like a leaf in the red sunset, a soft smile only for him on his lips. As they meet he hugs Sigurd tightly and kisses his soft, perfect lips. As they part are Sigurd's eyes only fixed on him and he whispers softly:  
"Thank you for saving me from those rumours. You are my light in the dark and thanks to you I got friends, speak English and learned how to smile… Mathias… I l-"_

"MATHIAS!" Somebody is jumping on the bed and the called is jolting up, eyes widened and looking around wildly. He spots at the end of his bed his newest fan. A first grader, named Peter Kirkland is bouncing up and down the mattress, his hair a wild mess and his thick eyebrows lifted in excitement. "Wake up! The Quidditch game starts in an hour!" He smiles broadly at him and climbs down from the bed.  
"Your team is already eating and they sent me to get you down. " Mathias scratches his head and as he sits up and sets his feet on the ground he hears a rustling. The parchment he wrote on yesterday was crumbled under his foot. He leans down and takes it. A little shudder as the thought hits him that somebody could have read it. He shakes his head and quickly folds it and puts it into the nightstand.  
"What was that?" Peter asks curiously whilst trying to get a glimpse of it as it disappears in the drawer.  
"Nothing. Just some tactics I thought about yesterday night," Mathias lies and shoos Peter out of the dormitory so he can dress in his Quidditch uniform.


	2. Gryffindor vs Slytherin

Human names used  
Mathias Køhler - Denmark  
Alfred - USA  
Kyle - Australia  
Sigurd "Lukas" Steilsson - Norway  
Elizaveta "Liz" Hedevary - Hungary  
Ivan Braginski - Russia  
Matthew - Canada  
Sadik - Turkey  
Natalya - Belarus

* * *

What follows is part tradition, part habit of Mathias after he got elected as a second grader into the Quidditch team. Gathering and eating together with his team, getting down to the locker room together, explaining the tactics in a fun way studded with jokes, the typical handclap to everybody before getting out on the field, forming a circle and doing the necessary encouragement-war cry. When everybody is in position, he walks to the middle of the field and greets the Team Captain of the Slytherins, Ivan Braginsky. Both are standing exactly in the middle of the field, their houses cheering for them. He smiles at the bigger guy. Mathias still asks himself how the broom could even support this guy's weight, but he understands pretty well how he could get into the Slytherin team. He was a big, buff guy and if he was flying in front of a ring, it was nearly impossible to score. Only thing that helps is being faster than him in flying to the next available ring.

"Shake hands," commands the referee and both obey. Their handshake is firm, full of determination and quickly over.  
"May we have a good play, Mathias." Russia smiles.  
"Yeah… But in the end, the best will win." Mathias grins, knowing that his team is the best of whole Hogwarts. All their training was paying off in the last few weeks and as he turns towards his team, everybody is smiling at him, motivated and ready to beat some respect into the Slytherin players.

Soon everybody is up in the air and the balls get released. As a seeker he could allow himself to look around and get a good sight on everybody without having to pay too big attention to the quaffel. His team was in position. The three chasers, Alfred, Kyle and Matthew, the beaters Liz and Tino and his keeper Sadik, everybody was in the line-up he chose for this game. Next thing is tackling down the enemy's tactic. It seems to be a surprisingly defensive one, as two chasers are rather in the back than in the front, with Natalya and her typical glare and tendency for fouls in the front as a deterrent. But what interested him the most was the Seeker. Where was Sigurd? He looks around and almost gets hit by a Bludger if it was not for Liz.  
"Mathias!" She turns to him and a mixture of annoyance and worry is displayed on her face.  
"Come on! The game has begun!" Mathias shakes his head and smiles apologetic.  
"Sorry. I was thinking about tactics." He dives down as a Bludger is again hit into his direction and begins to fly around to keep looking for the golden snitch. He directs his team throughout the game, all the while looking for the little, wicked ball and Sigurd. But from both he can only catch once or twice a glance before they disappear again.

The game lasts already for an hour as the first real chance comes up to catch the Snitch. Mathias spots the golden sphere whirring around a goal post of the Slytherins. He dives down as quickly as he could, but Sigurd is closer and as he sees how Mathias makes a sudden dive he is quick to react and follows. Soon both are flying shoulder on shoulder, following the bizarre flying track of the snitch. They were so close that Mathias could even hear Sigurd pant beside him and feel him bumping against him. The crowd is shouting and cheering for them, feeling the victory being near but Mathias is far away in his thoughts. They are not on brroms anymore, the panting has another reason, his own breathlessness another background. The tears in his eyes from the sharp wind are more pleasurable in his mind. Suddenly he feels how Sigurd wants to turn on his left side, towards him and is pushing more and more to the side. Mathias reacts almost too late to as why it is urging to change direction. He quickly pulls up his broom stick and can barely evade crashing into the spectators stands only by a meter. He is flying up and Sigurd shoots in a sharp left turn, much sharper as intended now that Mathias weight is not hindering him anymore. The Golden Snitch is gone.

Mathias shakes his head again. What is wrong with him? Why did he space out that much? He takes a slow round to check on his team. They are leading by mere ten points. The snitch would have brought victory if Mathias did not daydream in the middle of the most important moment of the game. He hits his forehead and begins to look for the Snitch. And Sigurd. And only some minutes later, he spots again a golden shimmer flying across the pitch, followed by a green shadow. Mathias picks up the pursuit immediately and as the snitch flies in a big turn, he is able to cut way through half the stadium. He gets closer and closer in an almost rectangular angel towards the little sphere. But instead of reaching out for the snitch, he has only one thing in mind. The only thing he wants to have right now.

The sound that follows will send shivers down the first graders even weeks after the accident. All Mathias can remember afterwards is a shrill whistle, the "ouws" and "ahhs" from the students and something green and black in his face before losing consciousness.

He wakes up two hours after the crash. He groans and holds his head as he tries to slowly sit up again. He opens his eyes and gets dazzled by the sun shining through the large windows in the infirmary. He blinks some and looks around. White beds, standing in a perfect row on one side. On the other side there is only one more bed standing, already occupied, in some distance to the big wooden doors. He looks down on himself and the feelings of his body slowly return to him. His right leg is itching badly and his right hand feels as if his wrist gets pulled towards the inside. As he tries to move his hand he yelps as pain is shooting up his arm. As he moves his leg in surprise it seems to hurt too and itch even worse. He whimpers some and holds his wrists gently and looks around for somebody to help.

Short but determined steps are coming out from the direction of the office of Madame Gaulle. The small woman with braided brown hair and stern green eyes walks to him with a clipboard in her hands.  
"Woke up? Good. Then I can finally let your team in before they are doing something stupid in the hallway." She looks on the papers, presumably Mathias health stats.  
"You got a broken leg, a fractured wrist and perhaps a brain concussion. Your limbs are currently healing and it will be finished in a few hours." She hums in agreement with the papers as she reads more.  
"Yes. It is best to keep you here over night, to be sure that nothing happened with your head. You landed pretty hard after all… After having almost pierced your fellow student with a broom." She points to the already occupied bed where only blond locks poke out from under the cover.  
"If there is anything, then just call me. I'm in the office." And with this she disappears again, not after having opened the doors.

A small gold and red crowd enters and gathers around Mathias bed. His team did not even bother to change after the match and everybody wears a more or less worried face. Mathias looks at them and smiles sheepishly.  
"Could somebody please recap what happened? I must have landed on my head…"  
Liz steps in front and stems her fist on her hips. She speaks reproachfully and sounds just like a parent lecturing:  
"You flew into the other Seeker and crashed. You both fell down several meters and were both a groaning and moaning mess. Great job, making the first graders never touch a broom again." Her eyes shot some glares towards him.  
"Yeah. Thanks to you both Seeker got replaced the first time in I-don't- know-how-many-years because both got so badly injured that they were not able to play anymore." She takes a deep breath and before she could continue to ramble, Tino lays a hand on her shoulder.  
"Come on Liz. I think he didn't do it on purpose. That can happen to anybody. And be positive! We still won over Slytherin." He smiles softly between her and Mathias, who scratches his head, his grin still on his face, but glancing down and loosely towards Sigurd's direction.  
"Yeah… I don't know how that could happen." He looks at his teammates again with a new determination in his voice.  
"Tino is right but we have to focus on the next game. I promise to train hard and I will do everything to not let this happen again." His smile is growing broader and his fellow students fall back into their rather careless attitude.  
"So how long do you have to stay here?" Asks Alfred, leaning on his broom he brought with him.  
"A night. But just for control that nothing happened with my brain or so."  
"For that it's already too late," Kyle throws in and they all laugh.

But as it is time for dinner they have to leave after some hours of joking and hanging around together. When Madame Gaulle comes with a little plate with food for Mathias she shooes them all out and they leave with jokes and see-ya-soons on their lips. The strong woman carries also a plate with some porridge for Sigurd but as he is still asleep she just puts it on the nightstand and orders Mathias to look after that Sigurd would eat it. Before leaving she lifts up Sigurd's cover to check on his injuries and Mathias inhales sharply.

Sigurds chest is covered in thick bandages. He swallowed dryly. If something in the magic world required a bandage for a longer period of time, it meant it was serious. So much he learned in his six years at Hogwarts. The next thought was not very better. It was his fault, Sigurd was injured. His fault that this perfect body got injured.

Mathias bites his lip and watches Madame Gaulle examine him before covering him again. He clears his throat:  
"Madame Gaulle? Is he injured very badly?" He asks with an almost shy voice and points unnecessarily at Sigurd. Madame Gaulle shakes her head and the single strands of hair that got loose of her braid whip.  
"It will heal without bigger problems. It just takes longer time because healing someone's inner organs and crushed rips is more complicated and takes more time. And his body makes the process go even slower but he will be better by tomorrow." She smiles softly at Mathias whilst gently covering Sigurd again with the white blanket and walks back to her office, leaving Mathias relieved back. He begins to eat his porridge as a question rises in his head. He turns to Sigurd with a slight frown on his face. What is different with his body?

After having finished his porridge and having set it on the nightstand, he gently dozes off.

 _A horde of students is shouting, screaming and talking in the background. He has no orientation to where he is, but feels something moving underneath him. Something is groaning in his ear and as he tries to see from the darkness he shoves a long, green robe out of his face. Mathias turns around and sees on what, or better, on whom he was lying. It was Sigurd. It was a groaning Sigurd with a so pained expression on his face. Mathias wants to shout and punch the person who hurt him. He looks around but nobody is on the green and misty field. He looks down again, but Sigurd vanished. Mathias quickly stands up and looks for him. He cannot be far with so much pain. And there he was, standing in the middle of the field, glaring at him. A gaping, bloody hole is in his chest and a slow flood of blood is soaking his Quidditch cloak. Mathias backs away, as Sigurd reaches for him and speaks with a pained sounding voice:  
"You! Why did you do this? Why did you hurt me? __I… I…" His whole expression changes into a grimace and he hisses: "I ha-"_

Mathias yelps and sits up, panting rapidly. He swallows and catches his breath, looking down at his covers. He strokes through his sweaty hair with his good hand and just wants to lay down again as:  
"Are you always that loud when you sleep?" Mathias turns his head and looks at his side. There Sigurd was lying on his back, his face turned to him with his usual empty expression, speaking to him with a heavy accent. Mathias lowers his hand, he still had in is hair and smiles awkwardly.  
"No, not really. Sorry for waking you up…" Sigurd only grunts and tries to gently sit up.  
"Don't sit up!" Mathias panics and leans more to him:  
"Your wound could open and it hurts or your rips get even more broken or…" He gets silenced by a glare and a hand wave.  
"I'm fine." Sigurd states and pushes himself up with his hands on the mattress to lean against his pillow in a somewhat upright position between sitting and lying. He could not suppress a little groan but finally he settled and strokes his hair out of his face before addressing Mathias again:  
"So you're the one that caused this?" He points at his wound before looking at his nightstand. There was still the plate with his now cold porridge, his wand and his cross pin lying.  
"I guess so…" Mathias answered whilst watching Sigurd picking up his cross and clipping his hair back.  
"I don't even know what exactly happened." He laughs awkwardly and rubs his wrist some.  
"I was seeing you chasing the snitch and as I was to grab it, I must have grabbed you accidently." Mathias knows it sounds silly. Grabbing a person instead of the snitch? He takes a deep breath and remembers his task for looking for Sigurd. He points at the plate.  
"You should eat something or Madame Gaulle will not let you leave, thinking that you have an eating disorder or something like that…."  
Sigurd only nods and reaches for the plate and the spoon. He slowly begins to eat and Mathias still can't take his eyes off this guy. He even makes eating porridge sexy. Sigurd, feeling Mathias stare fixed on him, sets the plate in his lap, and takes a deep breath and demands without even looking at him:  
"Could you please stop staring? It's getting on my nerves." He turns his head again and catches Mathias in pretending to not having set his eyes on him. He looked casually out of the window with a tensed neck and his fingers having a tight grip on his cover.  
"C'mon. I know you did. Everybody does it. No need in hiding it." Sigurd sighs and eats again.

Slowly Mathias relaxes but he keeps looking out of the window. Everything is silent with the exception of Sigurd's spoon scratching on the plate. The moon is shining through the window, being low as it is already settling. Mathias imagines how the moonlight must shine on Sigurd's white skin and blonde hair and reflect in his beautiful deep eyes. He sighs, bites his lips and holds himself back to not look again at Sigurd.  
"Say… Your name is Sigurd, right? Why do you want people to call you Lukas?" Yes, thinks Mathias. Start with something easy. Casual. He hears how the plate finds its way back on the night table and a rustling sheet before the deep voice with this Norwegian accent explains:  
"Because I don't like the English pronunciation of my name. You get Lukas better, so I just skip over explaining how my name gets pronounced in Norwegian."  
Mathias nods, still not looking at him, a light smile forming on his lips.  
"Heh… And some people think you can't even speak English."  
"Then they are stupid," is the blunt answer.  
"Played Quidditch before you joined the Slytherin team?"  
"I played in the kids' league back home. But I stopped a few years ago."  
"Oh?" Mathias turns his head. He never met somebody that played in an official Quidditch team as he never heard about Quidditch before he entered Hogwarts and ever since then he absorbs everything that has to do with this sport.  
"You did? Why stopping?"  
"None of your concern." Sigurd frowns at Mathias who immediately backs up again.  
"…okay. But you're really good. I look forward to our new match next year." He laughs softly. "Next time without a crash of course."  
"There is no next time. I will not play again."  
There is a short pause in which Mathias processes what he just heard. His expression changes from excitement to questioning, to worry and back again to questioning.  
"But… Don't you like Quidditch? It's not because I crashed into you, is it?"  
Sigurd shakes slowly his head.  
"No, not because of that. I love Quidditch but with me in the team it can't be a fair game."  
Mathias looks at him unbelieving and has to laugh.  
"Come on. You're good but you're not _that_ good. You seriously can't believe that just because you're in the team it has automatically won, right?" He looks at him, still a slow chuckle on his lips but he meets serious eyes.  
"No, I am not that good but you must surely have noticed how you got distracted by me."  
Mathias blinks some.  
"Yeah, that's true but you're that handsome. What am I supposed to do?" He smiles at him and wiggles his eyebrows. Somewhere in his sub-consciousness he asks himself from where this courage suddenly comes from. Sigurd only rolls his eyes.  
"I don't even know why I am speaking to you."  
"Because I still have to apologize for crashing into you?"  
"Then do it already."  
"I am sorry."  
"Fine, and now let me sleep."  
Mathias watches Sigurd closing his eyes and trying to relax his breath but he was not finished with this guy yet.  
"What is different with your body? Madame Gaulle said that it slows down your healing process."  
Sigurd remains silent.  
"Like… She said it as if your body is different from ours and if I think about that, she is right. You have something like an aura around you… Does that make sense?" He looks at Sigurd but he remains silent. Mathias huffs.  
"Sigurd? I know you're not asleep yet. You snore when you sleep and now you're silent."  
"I don't snore." Mathias grins.  
"No, but you have an aura around you and you must be something different than I am. What are you?"  
"If I tell you, will you let me sleep?"  
"Maybe?"  
"I am your nightmare and I will haunt you if you ask me one more question." Mathias laughs and leans out of his bed towards Sigurd, propping himself up on his nightstand. Sigurd still has his eyes closed. Mathias reaches with his hand for his face and pokes his cheek.  
"Liar."

Sigurd opens one eye and stares at Mathias.  
"Don't touch me." Mathias remains in his position and hovers with his index finger only a few centimetres away from Sigurd's face.  
"Not touching you anymore."  
"Good." Sigurd turns his head and Mathias is faced with his blond locks.

The next morning, both get waken up by Madame Gaulle, checking on them. Content with their healing she gives back their clothes and only now notices Mathias that they both were spending the whole night in their boxer shorts. He dresses quickly and pays attention to not look too much at Sigurd, as he apparently does not like that. What he does not notice are the little glances Sigurd gives him as Mathias sorts out his shirt, standing there only in his pants. As both are dressed and retrieved their things, Sigurd quickly rushes to the door, not wanting to remain longer than necessary in the same room as Mathias. Seeing this, the latter quickly grabs his wand and follows him running.  
"Wait for me!" But Sigurd turns around a corner and walks down some stairs and before Mathias could reach them, the stairs begin changing directions and cutting the way for Mathias. A long sigh follows and Mathias walks towards the Great Hall, hoping that breakfast is still served.


	3. Snowball fight

Human names

Mathias Køhler - Denmark  
Tino - Finland  
Sigurd "Lukas" Steilsson - Norway  
Ivan Braginski - Russia  
Berwald Oxenstierna - Sweden 

* * *

Ever after that night, Sigurd does his best to avoid Mathias. He is always the last to enter the classes they shared and the first to leave. He arrives always in last minute in the Great Hall to eat, knowing very well that Mathias as an early bird is amongst the firsts to be there. Whenever he spots the tall, blonde man with his typical spiky hair and far too happy grin on his face he either turns around, finds an empty classroom to slip in or a staircase leading into a completely new hallway. This tactic functions very well until one beautiful December afternoon when he sits in the library to study with his silent companion Berwald Oxenstierna.

Both enjoy the silence and do not need many words to communicate. And this big Hufflepuff guy has one big plus point, Sigurd discovered during his first weeks here. He is so gay for the Gryffindor-beater Tino that he is not affected by Sigurd in the slightest. He is also the one who figured out what Sigurd is and after having confronted him with it there was no need in denying it. Sigurd still wonders why Berwald did not end up in Ravenclaw. But after Sigurds request for secrecy Berwald did not lose one word about it anymore.

After having studied the whole Sunday morning Berwald suddenly claps his book shut and directs his gaze at Sigurd who looks up from his book with a raised eyebrow.  
"Ya need friends. Come with me and meet Tino. He can be friends with ev'rybody."  
Sigurd shakes his head. "I don't want to. What if Tino is as affected as everybody else?"  
"He won't be. Trust me on this. We'll meet outside lat'r. Just going for a walk. Ya can always leave then." Sigurd takes a deep breath and looks back on his book he was just reading. How bad could it be? They are a couple and if Tino is as in love with Berwald as he is with him then he surely won't be affected, right? And if everything is going down, he could always leave… Finally Sigurd nods.  
"Alright. But don't hold me back if I want to leave."

Both are waiting together at the portal for Tino with their winter cloaks and warm gloves on and their scarfs wrapped around their necks. They waited already ten minutes in silence, watching passing students until they hear somebody running down the broad stairs.  
"Sorry, Ber! I totally forgot the time…" A bit out of breath and with rose cheeks arrives Tino, Gryffindor-beater and Berwalds boyfriend. He wraps his arms around the taller boy and kisses him. After they break apart again he spots Sigurd standing a bit awkwardly beside them and watching his shoes.  
"So, you're Sigurd, right? You're the Slytherin seeker that crashed with Mathias?" Sigurd looks up and nods, his expression as cold as always when he speaks to people he is not close with. Tino doesn't seem to mind, probably inured from Berwald's own stares.  
"But you're alright again? When they transported you both to the infirmary you bled a lot…" Sigurd nods again.  
"Everything's back to normal."  
"Great!" Tino smiles and takes Berwald's hand. "Now let's get out. I bet you two were only studying the whole day." He walks out and drags his boyfriend with him. Sigurd follows at Berwald's side. Together they walk across the snow covered fields. There are not many students outside despite the sun shining and transforming the world into a glimmering one out of a dream. Sigurd assumes it is simply too cold and the students sit rather in front of the fireplace.

Tino talks and talks and talks. About school, about Christmas vacation, about the latest Quidditch training (without giving too much information since Sigurd is hearing too) and about his friends. Sigurd relaxes after some time and starts enjoying listening to him. Not only is it refreshing having somebody talk to him without taking any advances but also that this guy fills every awkward silence with his own thoughts and stories.

But far too soon the moment gets broken by an all too familiar voice shouting:  
"Hey! Tino!" All three of them turn around and watch Mathias running towards them, his breath forming little clouds in the cold air and grinning from one ear to another. He reaches them and halts, taking a second to catch his breath before exclaiming.  
"Man you're owl is as clumsy as you. It flew against the window and got itself knocked out. But here's a letter for you from your parents." He hands him a small letter still wet from when it landed together with the owl in the snow. Tino takes off his gloves before taking the letter anxiously and opening it. He quickly reads and his smile grows bigger with every line. Finally he turns to Berwald and kisses his cheek.  
"You can come visit me!" he laughs and hugs him tightly. Berwald somewhat surprised offers him a slight chuckle and lifts Tino up to hug him properly.  
"Wond'rful!"  
Tino kisses Berwalds cheek again.  
"Now you only have to write your parents! Let's do it now. You can borrow my owl as soon as it recovered." Tino takes Berwald's hands and turns his head towards Mathias and Sigurd whilst pushing his boyfriend down the way they came from.  
"Excuse us but this is veeery important! But we should totally talk again Sigurd. You absolutely have to help me with transfiguration class!" And with this both lovers walk away back to the castle, leaving Mathias and Sigurd standing in the snow.

Sigurd only huffs and begins to slowly walk again towards the lake. It was too beautiful outside to already get in again and he assumes that Mathias would rather go back to his warm Gryffindor common room than walking more in the icy cold weather.  
"Hey! Wait! I want to talk to you!" Mathias shouts but Sigurd continues without even turning his head or slowing down.  
"Why don't you talk with me?"  
Sigurd continues to walk down the snowy path.  
"Alright. You want it then…"  
Sigurd only rolls his eyes, expecting Mathias to finally leave, but suddenly he gets hit by something rather hard in the back. He whirls around and spots Mathias forming another snowball in his hands with a large grin plastered on his face.  
"Answer me or you'll get a piece of Norway in your face." Sigurd stands there, not believing this guy and as he still does not answer, Mathias throws the ball. If it was not for Sigurd's fast reflexes from years of Quidditch training, he would have been hit in his face. But so he ducks and in one single movement grabs snow, presses it into a ball and throws it at Mathias. Mathias ducks too and laughs, forming another snowball and throwing it at Sigurd. He gets hit at his leg and Sigurd's pride forbids him to stop here. He begins to start his counter attack and with every snowball he throws at Mathias he gets closer and closer to hit him in his face. Mathias of course does not make it an easy game for Sigurd though and soon this develops in a snowball fight like right out of a movie.

Sigurd soon is going into autopilot, not thinking too much and with the only goal of throwing a snowball right into Mathias' grin. But as they continue to fight he feels something creeping up in him: Memories of snowball fights with his little brother back home in Norway and he feels how he enjoys this far too much. And as Mathias sinks with one foot so deeply into the snow that he gets thrown off balance and lands with face first in the snow, Sigurd has to laugh. He has to laugh so much that he has to prop himself up with his arms on his knees. Mathias looks up, his hair full of snow and is first confused of who is laughing. But soon he joins in.

Sigurd calms down only slowly, wheezing for air. He walks up to Mathias who is still sitting in the snow and gives him a hand standing up. Mathias smiles at him and pulls himself up.  
"Thanks." Sigurd only nods, a little smile still curling his lips.  
"So… uhm… How should I call you? Sigurd or Lukas?"  
Sigurd looks at him and shrugs.  
"With whatever you feel most comfortable with."  
"I'll call you Lu then," grins Mathias.  
"If you must." Sigurd looks at Mathias' face properly for the first time. He has bright blue eyes, matching the sky on this beautiful cloudless day. His eyebrows are darker than his blonde and spiky hair and are slightly bigger at the beginning. He looks at him self-content and if Sigurd would have to describe him with an animal he most likely would go with a puppy. A tall and very fit puppy.

"You're checking me out, aren't you?"  
Sigurd snaps out of his thoughts and looks perplexed at Mathias, a faint blush creeping up his cheeks.  
"I am not."  
Mathias only grins and pokes Sigurd's cheek.  
"Liar."  
Sigurd rolls his eyes and turns again to walk back to the castle.  
"Wait for me!" Mathias takes two big steps and catches up with him. "You still have to tell me what you are."  
Sigurd shakes his head and continues to walk up the hill.  
"Okay, then…" Mathias thinks some before continuing:  
"Let's start with something easy. Do you like Quidditch?"  
Sigurd huffs:  
"Yes."  
"Do you go to Hogwarts?"  
"Obviously."  
"Are you good in transfiguration?"  
"Yes."  
"Are you good in Defences against the Dark Arts?"  
"Yes."  
"You must be bad in some classes, right?"  
"Yes."  
"You like Butterbeer?"  
"Yes."  
"Do you wanna go on a date with me?"  
"Yes" Sigurd stops and frowns at him. "I mean no. Of course not." They arrived at the big wooden door that leads into the vast entrance hall. Mathias only grins and opens the door with a forceful pull on the metal handle.  
"Then we meet at the portal the next weekend when we're allowed to visit Hogsmeade. And no excuses."  
And with this Mathias steps in and runs up to the Gryffindor common room, leaving a still frowning Sigurd behind.

The week passes and Sigurd still keeps evading Mathias. Surprisingly for him though is that Mathias does not seem to try and get near him anymore. He still smiles every time Sigurd turns his head towards him but he does not try and walk by sheer coincidence down to the dungeons or try to send him messages via Tino who gives them to Berwald who himself gives them to Sigurd. And then they mostly land in the fireplace. Not that Sigurd would miss the attention he got but it somehow seems as if something would lack in his dull school days. As the sun rises on the last weekend before the Christmas vacation Sigurd wakes up with a light excitement in his chest.

The dorm is empty with exception of Sigurd who sleeps always in to get his sleep back he loses late at night. Stretching some and enjoying the complete silence he gets dressed in his civil clothes. He just quickly combs his hair and splashes some cold water in his face before walking down to the Great Hall. As it is late, even for a weekend, most of the students are already finished and walking out in little groups. Out of habit Sigurd looks towards the Gryffindor table and looks out for Mathias. But the always smiling face is nowhere to be seen. Almost disappointed he gets to the Slytherin table and sits down beside his ash blonde brother.

They eat in almost complete silence, with exceptions of asking for the plate with meat or the curve with bread. That is, until Emil turns to his brother and asks him in their mother tongue. The few remaining at the table, don't mind them, used to their "secret language":  
"Will you go to Hogsmeade?"  
Sigurd freezes. Does his brother know? But from who? Mathias did not seem to have told anyone. He takes a deep breath before slowly nodding.  
"Yes. I still have to get you a Christmas present." Not even a lie. Sigurd looks at his brother with his best poker face. He hates lying to him so he sticks to his mantra of what is not out spoken, is not lied. Emil rolls his eyes.  
"At least make it not so expensive... Most of the time you spend too much money on it."  
Sigurd only nods, relieved that his brother does not know. He earns a raised eyebrow from Emil though:  
"No counter words? Must be my lucky day." Emil shoves his plate from him, apparently done eating. "Anyways. I will be out too. My friend keeps asking me for my bottles with ink and never returns them. So I guess I have to get new ones." He looks at his big brother, expecting him to ask to join him but all he gets is a nod and silence. Now that is something he is not used to. Deciding to use the opportunity to discover Hogsmeade alone, he keeps his mouth shut and finishes eating. As he stands up he turns a last time towards his brother.  
"Perhaps we'll see each other in the village." And he disappears towards the dorms.

Sigurd does not stay much longer, but ready to go, he walks directly to the big doors instead, leading out to the village and looks for the responsible teacher to let him know that he would leave Hogwarts. Done his duty, he leans at the side of the portal and waits for Mathias. This big puppy surely had someone asking for a favour or autograph that he is coming too late. Sigurd huffs and looks at the bypassing students. He spots some he knows and many more he never really paid attention to. Suddenly a known face looks at his and steps closer.  
"Look at that, my favourite Seeker! A shame that you want to stop…" Ivan Braginski, Quidditch captain, stands now right in front of Sigurd. Even Sigurd, who counts as one of the taller students at the school, looks almost like a kid in comparison to him.  
"I won't change my decision. You saw how it ended. What use do you have when both Seekers are out of the game?"  
Ivan gives a sly smile.  
"You distract not only the Seeker, but everybody else that gets near you too. Our second Seeker is much better than the ones from the others because we train him as hard as we do you. Even if you are out of the game will we have an experienced one. And… You must have forgotten that I got your little secret."  
Sigurd glares at him and wrinkles his nose lightly in despite but Ivan does not seem bothered by it and lets his smile widen even.  
"You know that I really want to win and you showed us that you work perfectly when you are long enough close to a person. So if you next time stick to our plan, I will consider my lips sealed. But if you fail our strategy next time again, your secret will be your smallest problem."  
Ivan tilts his head and got still his characteristic smile on his lips. Sigurd stares with cold eyes at the taller teenager without blinking, in his mind he runs down all his possibilities. Finally he swallows down his pride and gives a short nod. Behind Ivan he sees the familiar blond spikes walking out of the castle.  
"Excuse me now Ivan." He starts to walk past him and intentionally does not move a bit to the side, forcing Ivan to take a step to his right to let Sigurd pass. Ivan follows him with his eyes with a light chuckle and watches how he quickly walks down the hill with a big blonde guy following and apparently pestering him with questions.


End file.
